Dust and Death
by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
Summary: At the early age of five, a child was taken from the Arc family, never to reapper again. Twelve years later Ater Mors, a man with a striking resemblance to the lost child, enters Beacon. Ruthless and with the darkest of pasts, the new Jaune Arc will have face his own past before being able to face his future. And if his future holds nothing but merciless murderers and dark plots...
1. Just Another Jackass

**_I'm not dead yet. I just have my plane tomorrow. So I post this and then I can sleep peacefully..._**

 ** _No, I can't. Eh..._**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy the chapter._**

"I can't believe my baby sister is coming to Beacon with me! This is the _best day ever!_ ".

The boy shot an irritated but quick glare at the two girls who were making such a fuss. They didn't seem to get the message, as they continued to argue and chit-chat like nothing had happened. Probably they simply hadn't seen him... not yet, at least. He had the inkling their reaction would be pretty evident once they caught sight of him. Not like that would happen anything soon, though. Even in his current predicament and outfit, he was going completely unnoticed, a skill he had honed over years of use.

"Please, stop", wheezed out the smaller girl, who was being smothered by the older one, apparently her sister, in a tight hug.

"But I'm so _proud_ of you!", squealed the blonde girl, basically shaking in excitement.

"Really, sis, it was nothing", replied the crimsonette, whatever their subject was. The boy raised a single eyebrow at seeing her silver eyes. _'Uncommon colour'_ , he noted. _'Maybe a family trait of some ancient lineage? That would mean she's probably strong... maybe I should observe her and see if she's good enough to be on my team'_.

"What do you mean? It was incredible!", countered the older girl, apparently of the loud type. He hated those with all his heart: if you really needed to grate on his nerves, at least do it silently, was his philosophy. "Everyone at Beacon's gonna think you're the bee's knees".

 _That_ perked his attention. _'So she's good, eh? But yet again it could just be sibling's exaggeration. Still, it's worth a closer look'_. The smaller girl was shrinking. "I don't wanna be the bee's knees, okay? I don't wanna be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees".

The boy raised an eyebrow again. _'You're on an airship toward one of the most prestigious schools for Huntsmen in the world, and you're obviously younger than most here, and_ now _you ask for normality?'_. He restrained a snort. _'Too late to turn back now'_.

"What's with you, aren't you excited?", asked the blonde. _'And you're a bit_ too _excited'_ , remarked the boy in his head.

"Of course I'm excited, I just...", confirmed the other girl before sighing. "I got moved ahead of two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything...".

The taller girl walked up to her and passed an arm around her shoulder. "But you _are_ special", she argued, making the boy frown. He would really need to look more into that short redhead. He couldn't completely tell given the little amount of time he had been observing them, but the blonde looked more of the cocky type, so for her to admit someone else's was special without adding `almost like me` was already something. He'd seen many arrogant assholes thinking so high of themselves, but the blonde wasn't _completely_ like that. More like... naive cockiness, than wicked arrogance. He would know: he had encountered both.

 _"The robbery was led by the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade the police. If you have any informations on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa"_. The boy tilted his head sideways, slightly interested in the robbery, but shrugged it off. It wasn't important. Also, it had already happened and ended.

The other reporter, Lisa Lavender, was talking about the White Fang when the screen turned off, allowing a hologram to appear in its place. The hologram was a blonde woman with green eyes and transparent glasses, dressed in a white blouse, black pencil skirt and black stockings. _"Hello and welcome to Beacon"_ , said the woman.

"Who's that?", asked the blonde girl, and the boy rolled his eyes. Even _he_ knew, and he hadn't even known Torchwick was a criminal until a few weeks before. Really, she wanted to be a Huntress, and she didn't know who were the big ones in the field?

 _"My name is Glynda Goodwitch"_.

"Oh". The boy glanced at the blonde. Was she really serious?

 _"You are among the privileged few who received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it's our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world"_.

 _'It would've been a very inspiring welcoming speech, Goodwitch'_ , mentally snorted the boy, already seeing the mistake in her words. _'It's such a pity it's all false. You said we have demonstrated our courage... wrong. We have demonstrated we either are already halfway strong enough to be Huntsmen on our own, or we have powerful allies that granted us access to the school. Courage and will to improved values nothing in this school. Only strength seems to matter. Your speech would've been interesting... hadn't it all been so fake'_.

All around him, though, the other students didn't seem to share his scepticism, expressions of wonder painting on their faces. They all rushed to the windows as soon as the hologram disappeared, but he stayed where he was. There was no need to. He already knew how Vale looked like and he knew he would be seeing Beacon very soon.

With the corner of his left eye he noticed the blonde girl walking toward him. He suppressed a sigh. Eventually, someone was bound to notice him. He had just been hoping not to get the loud type. Behind the taller girl there was the redhead, trailing behind in the way younger siblings do when the older ones are going somewhere and they don't know what they're supposed to do. The blonde stopped right in front of him, hands on her hips and chest thrust out.

"Hey there, Hot Stuff", she greeted him with a flirty smile. He didn't even need to put too much coldness or fire in his words to wipe off that smile.

"Fuck off".

The girl's eyes widened for a second before she closed them, taking what sounded like a calming breath. When she opened them again, though, they were red and burning with rage. The girl behind her had been briefly frozen by his rudeness, but then began pulling at the blonde's jacket, trying to stop her from doing something she might regret.

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice, what's your problem?", grumbled the taller girl. He looked up at her from his seated position against the darkest wall of the airship.

"You walked up to me and started to flirt with me", he replied bluntly. "Everything about me, from my expression to my clothes to where I am seated screams `leave me alone`, and you chose to ignore all of that just because I looked interesting enough to inquire more", he continued, glaring at her and noting how her eyes were turning back to lilac. "Now, while in some cases direct confrontation is the best method of observation, you should never try to approach an unknown danger without having first gathered some data about it unless you are in a very desperate situation. Being on a very safe airship doesn't sound to me like a very desperate situation, so I will have to repeat myself: fuck off".

The girl gritted her teeth. "Listen, I can get you're all broody and moody, but we're here to become the new generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses", she said, stating the obvious. "But if you can't even be, if not nice or kind, at least polite to someone you don't even know, how do you think you will become a good Huntsman?".

"You don't need to be fucking _sweet_ to be a Huntsman", he growled with irritation. "One of the best Huntsman I've ever seen is a fucking drunkard whose definition of politeness is when he doesn't spit on your face as soon as you start spewing bullshit about what he can and can't do".

The shorter girl frowned at his language, but also tilted her head sideways. "What's his name?".

"Qrow Branwen", he muttered angrily. "Now, if you may, do me a favour and go annoy someone else".

"You met Uncle Qrow?", asked the redhead, apparently ignoring his rather polite suggestion.

His eyebrow broke the record for highest point on his forehead ever reached. "You're his nieces. You?", he deadpanned.

The taller girl's eyes turned red again. "Yes, got a problem with that?", she growled.

"I would've expected less idiotic anger and more pointless mockery from the old crow's nieces", he retorted coldly. "Either you're extremely Qrow-resistant, or he tries to be more... _civil_ around his nieces".

"Probably both", nervously laughed the crimsonette, trying to hold back the blonde. "Aaaanyway, I'm Ruby! And this is my older sister Yang".

The boy's eyebrow wasn't lowered. "Ater Mors", he replied curtly.

Ruby smiled, but a voice nearby piped up unexpectedly. "Doesn't that mean, in one of the ancient languages, `Dark Death`?". They turned to look at the speaker, a black-haired girl with amber eyes and cat ears disguised as a bow with the help of a ribbon. She was holding a book in her hands and her eyes were fixed on the page, unmoving, sign she wasn't really readying it. "Kinda strange name to give to a child, don't you think?", the Faunus continued.

The boy's eyes narrowed at her. "If you don't have anything interesting to say, shut your trap", he spat at her. "My name is my name. I've met stranger names".

The blonde girl, Yang, seemed to still be pissed, though. "Hey, who do you think you are, insulting us and our uncle and then getting angry because someone commented on your name?", she snapped at him, and his eyes returned to hers, narrowed.

"Ater Mors. That's what and who I am", he retorted. "And now, since we've just landed, I think everyone should really move and get out of this thing".

Without waiting for anyone to reply, he got up and walked out of his dark corner. After he left, the shadows seemed to grow lighter, as if his mere presence had been enough to darken the room. Walking out in the sunlight also gave Yang and Ruby the chance to better see his outfit, and Yang had to admit he was right when he said his very clothes screamed `don't mess with me`.

He wore black form-fitting trousers paired with black leather boots, a black form-fitting tank top with patterns of crystal of different colours on it, and fingerless black leather gloves. Around his arms and legs, and criss-crossing his torso, there were several dark grey chains that ended in different weapons. Two of them, the ones on the arms, ended with kunai-like blades that were attached to the forearm, while the two wrapped around his legs ended with vicious hooks that could get a hold of flesh or clothes easily. Of the ones on his torso two were spiked chains, and the other ended in flail's heads. His skin was quite pale, almost unhealthily so, and his blond hair looked as if they'd seen better days. But his eyes were of the same colour and coldness of the depth of the ocean.

He looked like a black and dark stain on Beacon's brightness. The towers and large buildings of the school gave off a sense of wonder, but the boy's presence was enough to unnerve many of the students, who found themselves avoiding him as he stopped to take in the grand sight of Beacon Academy.

 _'Beacon Academy. Prestige: highest. Headmaster: Medeis Ozpin. Status: open, understaffed. Staff: Glynda Goodwitch, Peter Port, Bartholomew Oobleck, Katherine Peach. Annual exam success rate: high. Graduation rate: moderate'_ , he thought calculatingly. _'Chance of successful entrance: nearly inexistent. Chance of my transcripts being revealed: very low. Yes, Beacon might just do the do'_.

He glanced around and sighed explosively when he noticed all the students had gone their way and left him alone with his thoughts. He really hated the stares he got from the majority of people, be it for his clothes, his choice of weapon or his scars.

Because... well, he _had_ scars.

They weren't a real deal nor they were truly something scary. They were just there. He had one on his right cheek and a vertical one starting just beside his left brow and going down on his neck. A few scars on his arms were visible as well, and truly the only noteworthy one was the one on his exposed right clavicle, a large scar that then disappeared in the back of his collar, but he knew it went all the way down his right hip. It was jagged and uneven, but over everything else it was a mark of shame for him. It was what he had gotten when he had thought he could trust the other inmates because of the common enemy they had shared.

What a naive fool he had been.

He had trusted that girl only because she had looked nice and helpful the first time he had seen her. He was in the dirt after having tried to stand up to the Doctor, while she was unharmed and lowering her head in submission. In her eyes, he had seen a fire that wasn't obedient like the rest of her body. It was the same fire that, a few days later, had tried to burn down the Doctor's lab. Foolish and naive as he had been, he had actually tried to help her, thinking she had been trying to free the prisoners, but the truth had been as ugly as it had been obvious, and he should've really seen that coming.

She had simply waited to have the complicity of a few inmates before betraying them all, turning them in to the Doctor, who had made sure to teach them all _why_ rebelling was such a bad idea. But that hadn't been the worst of the whole ordeal. The worst had been later, when he had asked her why she had done it. And he had really regretted getting the answer.

 _"Oh, no hard feelings C49, I didn't do it because I hate you", she said easily, smiling at him._

 _"Then why have you done it, F11?", he asked, confused. "We could've done it, or at least tried to. Why did you have to turn against us?"._

 _She sighed deeply and ruffled his hair. "C49, you should really stop being so childish", she scolded him with a brief disappointed frown. "You should already know the answer"._

 _"But I don't!", he retorted._

 _"It's simple, really", she smiled easily. "I simply sided with the winning faction. It's the only way you survive in this world"._

He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. Yes, it was true, survival was only through power. Be it strength, alliances or diplomacy, the most powerful was always the one to survive. F11 had been right, but that didn't mean he agreed with everything she had said or done. Instead of allying with people he despised just for survival, he had made sure to be always on the winning side.

By creating his own faction. Members: one, Ater Mors.

 ** _Got nothing to say. Just wish me luck and hope my plane won't crash._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	2. Beacon

**_Okay, still for the poll on my profile, let me post a chapter for this. Since in the last chapter we saw that Ater (Jaune) Mors ain't someone who likes people, let me destroy your "angstlord" idea of him with this chapter._**

Ater Mors wasn't a softie.

His memories of his past were hazy and misty, with only a few moments here and there he could remember clear. F11 was one of those pieces of his past he could remember. He wondered how she had grown up. Who knew, maybe now she was even pretty. What he did know of his past, though, was that he had had a harsh life, and that his demeanour and mindset had been forged from said harshness.

That being said, he still walked up to the downed girl.

If there was something he had learned in all his years in that lab, it was that loyal allies were a merchandise no one could buy and thus they were priceless. While Ater did not really like the girl's sister for her boisterous and far-too-curious personality, he had no real issue with the shorter one. If anything, her attempts at dragging the taller girl away had been welcome. Ater Mors was not one to hate someone over something as small and petty as a flirt, but he knew the type the blonde was. Once was enough for them to stick like glue. Plus she seemed of the curious type, and while that by itself didn't bother him, he never enjoyed being directly questioned. The smaller girl had obviously been curious as well, but at least she had seemed able to contain such curiosity.

So he decided to at least give her a shot. He was in dire need of allies, and despite knowing how manipulative that was, he had the inkling that the girl's obviously inferior age would've made her a more trusting individual, even though he wasn't exactly someone who inspired much trust in others.

"Hey," he said tiredly as he offered her a hand to get up. She had kinda reminded him of himself for some reason, and the feeling had just strengthened when he had heard her mutter a sarcastic remark about a good start. A feeling of defeat he had learned how to lock away and forget about. Being defeated and feeling defeated were two very different things, and he perfectly knew which one was worse.

Ruby opened her eyes and stared at him, startled, and then at his outstretched hand.

"That's called a hand, an appendage of the limb called 'arm', and also not a Grimm. In this particular case you should use it to grab onto it and let me hoister you up," he explained sarcastically, earning a pout from the girl, but after a second or two she did grab his hand and pulled herself up. "I didn't catch your name on the airship."

She looked at the ground and mumbled something he couldn't catch.

"What was that?"

She raised her head and looked straight at him, her eyes holding such an intensity it almost made him frown. Almost. He was still curious as to what she had said. "Why did you help me up?" she repeated, and Ater blinked. "You were so rude on the airship, so why did you help me?"

He sighed and shook his head. He should've expected that, if he had to be honest. Well, there was no turning back time. "Your sister came up at a bad moment, plus I dislike the loud type of people and she seemed to be exactly that," he explained lightly. "I have nothing against you. If anything, at least you tried to avoid an argument."

"But why were you so rude in the first place?" she asked, continuing with her staring.

"Because sometimes it's quicker to be rude, and I didn't really have time for chitchat," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest, the chains tinkling when they made contact with each other. "On the other hand you didn't try to pry answers out of me. Plus you _did_ kind of look in need of a hand."

She blushed at the jab before straightening. "Well, my name's Ruby, Ruby Rose!"

"Well, I guess you already know mine, but I'm Ater Mors," he returned the introduction. "And don't mind that girl's comment. That language is not even spoken any more. My name's just fine." He shrugged to himself and walked away before turning his head back to her. "Well? Are you coming or not?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't think you wanted my company," she said as she hurried to catch up.

He shrugged off her apology. "Eh, I don't mind. Besides, strangers are just possible allies you haven't met yet," he told her with a small grin. It was a bit rusty for the lack of use, but it seemed to work as she smiled back. "Or, if you prefer me to quote your uncle, that drunkard… 'strangers are people who could buy you alcohol in the future'. His words, not mine… although I guess that's obvious."

Ruby laughed awkwardly. Yeeeaah, great, first impression: the niece of the drunkard. She'd really have to talk about her uncle about at least not bragging about his nieces while totally drunk. "So… what about you? Do you have any embarrassing uncles?"

Ater barked out a laugh that grated his throat. Damn, he'd have to get used to that again too. His very limited time with Qrow had given him back his dictionary and 'politeness', but even out of the labs there hadn't been many chances to smile or laugh with the drunk. The only time he had been close to laughing had been where Qrow had been thrown out of a pub while utterly drank, and had tried to flirt it up with a car parked outside, and even then it had been more of an amused snort than a real laughter. He cleared his throat before looking at Ruby, trying to find a way to deflect the question. His eyes stopped on the red object behind her back, and he stared at it until Ruby got the message.

"Oh, this?" she smiled as she took it out and deployed it. _'Awesome coolness, here I come!'_ "This is my baby, Crescent Rose!"

Ater merely blinked as the large weapon embedded its point into the concrete. Either the girl was so strong a casual swing was enough to break the stones, or the blade was so sharp it only needed its weight dragging it down to cut through the floor. Either case, he was impressed. He hadn't thought someone so small would've fought with a weapon like that, but to be honest he shouldn't have been surprised. Qrow was a scraggly and scarecrowish man, yet he wielded that fucking giant weapon of his. "A scythe, like your uncle's, but with no sword mode," he noted, idly scratching the back of his head. "Does it do anything?"

"Yup!" exclaimed Ruby, cocking the barrel and loading a shot. "It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle!"

He stopped. "You put a gun in a scythe?"

"I know! Isn't it awesome?" she giggled happily before looking at you. "And those? What do they do?"

"Well… nothing," he shrugged, lifting a hand and looking at the blade. "They're just semi-durable chains I should _really_ just abandon or reforge. I only use them when I'm out of Aura and close melee isn't an option. Oh, and sometimes I use the hooked ones to grab and throw off-guard my opponents when I kick, but I mainly just fight unarmed."

"What? Totally unarmed?" she asked, surprised. It wasn't uncommon, heck even her father fought unarmed and her sister kind of did -no okay her sister didn't-, but normally unarmed fighters didn't have weapons on them. "You must be skilled then…"

"Kind of… I'm peculiar more than skilled," he replied, his expression darkening for a second. If he wasn't wrong, he was about as strong as any student there. The Doctor had preferred to study and experiment on him rather than train him, but once the experiments had yielded results his combat skills had improved from the many fights the Doctor made him fight. "But I'm not hopeless, either."

"But what about ranged?" she inquired a little more, and he glanced at her. "I mean ranged combat. Those chains can't be longer than three yards or so, and your body can't extend -unless that's your Semblance that would be totally awesome- so how do you fight at distance?"

Understanding her question, Ater thought for a while. There was no doubt his… peculiar ability… would be discovered very soon, so talking about it could've made it look less like he was trying to hide it and more like he just didn't mention it if not asked about it. That being said, it was going to be a pain in the ass to chalk it off as 'Semblance', even though it was the only answer he could give. "When I can I try to bring the fight to melee as I don't really like relying on ranged, but if I need I usually fight with my Semblance, Dust Replication," he lied smoothly enough, watching as her eyes widened. "It's called like that because I can replicate the effects of Dust, yes. Your uncle was the one who came up with the name for it."

"That sounds so cool!" exclaimed the redhead, basically jumped up and down. "Can I see it? Just once!"

He sighed good-naturedly. As little as he liked people, this girl was basically offering him the chance to strengthen his alias. Plus she wasn't as bad as he had feared. Maybe having her as an ally could help him mend bridges with the blonde. As much as he had disliked her, maybe he had judged her poorly like he had done for the redhead. "Sure," he agreed, not even needing to concentrate to draw upon his unique powers.

His Aura and true Semblance remained inactive, but his body responded immediately. After pondering a little on what type of Dust he should've used, he decided for a mostly harmless one. "Watch and let's see if you can notice what I did," he grinned at her before infusing Aura in his legs and jumping high in the air. With nay but a wish, he felt the Air Dust in his body and he didn't even need to discharge the force of the fall as he descended steadily and much slower than he should've.

Ruby looked puzzled for a second before she pieced things together. "You fell too slowly for it to be a true fall," she remarked sharply, and he grinned again. A smart ally, then. How lucky. "Did you replicate Air Dust?"

"That I did," he nodded, feeling the Dust disappear into his system once again. "But now that I've told and shown you my Semblance, shouldn't you do the same?"

If possible, Ruby beamed even brighter. "Sure! Try to keep up if you can!" she shouted before she disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. To be honest, he could keep her in sight, but he perfectly knew even using Dust wouldn't have allowed him to be as fast as she was. Damn, here she went again. He turned to follow the red rose petals blur and found himself staring at Ruby's silver eyes. She had returned to her spot beside him. "So~?"

Ater laughed, and this time it grated his throat a little less, not enough to make him stop. "Damn, I'll admit it, that was cool," he inwardly smirked at his own understatement. Heck, he had never seen _anyone_ go that fast. "Can you also attack while you're speeding? 'Cause if you can, I am _not_ going to enjoy sparring with you."

She pouted. "No, I can't. I have to stop using it to attack since I literally turn into rose petals, so I am not physically able to hit," she grumbled. "I can not turn into rose petals but I still can't attack and I cannot even fly."

"Wait, you can fly while using your Semblance?" asked Ater, bewildered.

"Yup!" She grinned cheerfully before she suddenly was a red blur again, doing a few pirouettes in the air before flying back down. "Cool, isn't it?"

The boy just stared at her for a second before he face-palmed. "And here I thought Beacon would've been boring," he reprimanded himself. "Girl one and I'm already interested…" He then went over his own words and glanced at a blushing Ruby. "Err… not romantically, sorry. No offence but well…"

"It's kinda early for that?" Ruby offered, her blush still in place.

"I don't have experience in that field so let's just go with that answer," he nodded vigorously before looking around. "So, unless I am _really_ wrong, we just got lost playing around. Fortunately, only an utter idiot wouldn't be able to see that everyone is still going that way, so hopefully we aren't going to miss the welcoming speech."

"How do you know there will be a welcoming speech?" asked Ruby as the two jogged to the Atrium. Thankfully she didn't use her Semblance, or Ater would never be able to keep up.

He blinked and shrugged. "Qrow told me he knows the Headmaster. He's the one who suggested attending Beacon, and he mentioned the speech," he explained. "Besides, aren't organizations like this supposed to give a welcoming speech?"

Ruby giggled. "You sound like you are relying on stuff you've heard and never seen personally."

 _'You don't know how much is that true,'_ he thought ironically. "That wouldn't be too far from the truth," he admitted. "I'm… not used to be around people, especially when I have to socialize." _'Instead of fighting them,'_ he added in his mind.

"Yeah, I noticed that," she laughed. She seemed to laugh often. Ater was mesmerized by how much she seemed to laugh. That… that had always been so uncommon in the labs. Maybe he should try to laugh more as well? He recalled his laughters earlier and winced. Yeah, he should've probably practised it a little more, or he would've sounded like he had eaten Fire Dust. Actually, he would've sounded like a normal person having eaten Fire Dust. He personally liked that Dust.

Finally, the two of them arrived to the Atrium, and Ruby was quickly called by her sister. She farewelled him and moved to reach her blonde sister, but stopped when she felt a hand close around her forearm. Turning, she stared into Ater's dark depths of blue. "I'd like to meet your sister again to apologize for my rudeness earlier," was all he said before he let go of her arm. The sudden unbalance almost made her stumble, but she quickly recovered.

"Sure, come along!" she chirped happily before squeezing her way through the crowd. Amused, Ater followed, elbowing his way after her. His less than polite method resulted in many a grumble, but he gracefully ignored them all to focus on the two girls ahead of him. As soon as he stepped beside them, Yang's eyes turned red as she turned to him. Ruby awkwardly stood in between, ashamed for not having foreseen her sister's reaction. "Ehm…"

"Are you stalking us?" Yang growled aggressively.

"If I were stalking you I wouldn't be right in front of you right now," Ater stated blandly, his opinion of the blonde not improving one bit. "I befriended Ruby on our way here, and I actually came to apologize."

"Huh?"

He almost rolled his eyes at that. Seriously, they had met only once before and yet she needed him to explicitly tell her what had happened? "On their airship, you approached me while I was… not in the best of moods. I'm not offering you friendship, but I'm saying I could've been less aggressive on the Bullhead." He didn't extend his hand, and she didn't either, but her eyes turned back to lilac. "And with this settled, I think there is no further need to talk about that."

Yang stared at him for a few more seconds, glancing at Ruby as well, as if trying to decide if she should've questioned him about what he had done with her little sister, but eventually thought better of it. In her mind, the guy was still both weird and dangerous-looking. Better not to pry. Had something gone wrong, her sister would've told her. "So… I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!"

"I've been told as much," Ater replied curtly, before looking at the redhead. "Aren't you going to tell your sister about how you were lying hopelessly on the ground in the courtyard?"

Yang moved her gaze from Ater to Ruby, who was shrinking. "I-I… it wasn't my fault! There was this crabby girl who kept yelling and shaking Dust in the air and I just… sneezed and ignited it?" She looked hopefully between the two. "And then she kind of stormed off leaving me on the ground?"

"I'm gonna call you Sneezeblast from now on," Ater stated plainly. "Although I would've liked to be there to prevent the explosion. So much Dust wasted…"

"I-It wasn't all that much!"

"Ruby, it shook the Beacon grounds," he deadpanned at her. "I'm inclined to believe you _vaporized_ the 'crabby girl' with such an explosion…"

"For your information, she did _not_ vaporize me," a haughty voice came from behind the boy. The three of them looked at the short girl with white hair, white clothing, and ice blue eyes glaring at them. "Fortunately for you, I have more than enough Dust with me so I shall not demand you repay the damage, but consider yourself lucky we didn't get blown off the side of the cliff!"

"Honestly, if the explosion has been so powerful you were worried about that, only a memory should've remained of you," Ater noted dryly. "Plus the crater was between Ruby and the school, so it's obvious it went the opposite way from the cliffs. As such I find it hard to believe you."

The girl's eye twitched in anger. "It was an exaggeration meant to make a point, you dolt!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. "She could've severely damaged something!"

Yang laughed. "Sorry but you don't really have much to damage," she grinned, pointing to the girl's quite flat chest, making her fume. "Besides, you don't even have a scratch on you, so you're fine."

The girl gritted her teeth, but before all hell could break loose, Ruby stepped in. "Okay, let's not start a fight on our first day, okay?" She looked at everyone. The girl was furious, Yang looked amused and Ater just indifferent.

The girl's eyes snapped to her. "You!"

Forgetting all thoughts of peace, Ruby jumped in Yang's arms. "Protect me Yang!" Ater could just blink in shock, and the action took even the girl in white off-guard.

Yang just chuckled and set her sister down. "So, I guess we got off the wrong foot. Eh, as Fuckoff and I already know, that can happen." The boy raised an eyebrow at the -quite fitting- nickname, but didn't comment verbally. "So why don't you two try to start over again?"

"Right!" Ruby zipped in front of the girl. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We could go out for school supplies~"

"The school hasn't even started yet," Ater pointed out, but was wisely just ignored.

"Yes, and we can try on clothes, and paint our nails, and talk about cute boys like…" She pointedly ignored Ater as she looked around and finally pointed at a tall guy with black hair in the crowd, sided by a short gingerhead who seemed to be talking. "…tall, dark and lean over there."

Weiss froze, feeling a murderous gaze trying to bore a hole in her skull, but she tried to ignore it.

Yang frowned at her sarcasm, Ruby seemed not to have picked up on it at all, and Ater snorted. "Come on, I get that being sneeze-blasted before your first day of school isn't fun, but try to keep the sarcasm down, or you'll make my same mistake," he quickly interjected, stopping Ruby before she could speak. "Make Implants angry."

"Hey, these are a hundred percent mine," Yang retorted, lifting her chest up with her hands. "Too bad that sentence just destroyed your last chances of having the honour to touch them."

"Eh, Fuckoff is very similar to Fuckyou so I might get lucky."

"And Implants is very similar to Impale, and I'm sure you don't want that."

"I could give you something you can impale on."

"Sorry, I don't use toothpicks."

"Me neither. I only use these chains plus a greatsword."

"Really? Must be tiny if you hide it so well."

"Not really, it's part of my Semblance."

Ignoring Yang's and Ater's bickering, and not exempt of a blush for their topic, Weiss turned back to Ruby. "I don't like you nor I am inclined to believe I will like you in the near future, but for the sake of politeness I'm gonna graciously accept your apology and move on. Please do not bother me again unless it's an emergency."

Before the redhead could reply, she stormed off, leaving her with the two blondes. Ruby sighed before a throat-clearing was heard and everyone turned to look at the stage, where a tall man in a green suit had just activated a microphone. He had a cane by his side and was looking straight at the crowd.

"Hello. I am Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of this Academy. Since I guess everyone of you is familiar with my name, allow me to move onto more important matters." His eyes scanned the crowd as he spoke. "You've all gathered here today in the search of direction. You believe that your permanence here will hone your skills, improve your knowledge, and give you a purpose."

His eyes stopped on the trio of Ruby, Yang and Ater. "Some of you came here to train and one day, change the world for the better. They will be shining lights for others to follow," he continued evenly. "Others came here just for the adrenaline and the fight. Others, to find their answers and purpose. It doesn't matter why you have stepped on these grounds today, we shall forge you all in the future generation of Hunters."

"You are all flawed and in need of improvement, and by applying for this school you accept those flaws and trust us to correct them. Right now, only a few of you would make for good Hunters," he stated, looking straight at Ruby. "Only a few today, but in time everyone of you shall learn what it means to protect the world." His gaze moved to Ater. "Even if you currently don't care about it."

Ozpin's eyes returned to look at the general crowd and he stepped aside, allowing a woman with blonde hair and green eyes to take over. Ater eyed her and elbowed Yang in the ribs. "Is she your mother? You two have identically weighted-down chests."

"Are you planning on seducing a teacher?"

"I have the impression trying to seduce her would be more or less like trying to seduce the statue in the courtyard," he deadpanned back, making Yang snort amusedly. "Plus there'd be too many blondes then."

"One is enough?"

"More than enough."

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your Initiation will begin. Be ready," was all she said before she walked off, leaving a crowd of confused students.

"Wait, where is the ballroom?" asked Yang, looking around.

"Please, follow me for a tour of the school," a portly old man with a Bordeaux-coloured suit called from a door. "I shall show you around and, meanwhile, narrate you the past of this great academy. Shall we?"

Several hours of 'narrating' later, Yang and Ruby were in the ballroom, in their pyjamas, ready to sleep. Since there wasn't much to talk about of their day, Yang settled for the next best thing and grinned at her little sister. "So~ You and Grumpy together? I must say you really must've tried really hard to break through that shell, he seemed unapproachable before. Have you melted his cold heart into fluffy candies?"

Ruby was equally embarrassed and confused by her words, but a blush reached her cheeks nonetheless. "W-We're not t-together!" she squeaked embarrassed. "He's just a friend!"

"Still a great feat to get him to befriend you," grinned Yang. "And didn't just tell you to 'fuck off'."

"Yaaang!" protested Ruby. "Will you let go of that already? I hate when people swear, plus he was more or less kind with me. He even apologize to you, it's obvious he hadn't been in the best of moods on the airship."

Yang chuckled and raised her eyes just in time to catch 'Grumpy', aka Ater Mors, walk in the ballroom and drop on a sleeping back, unmoving like a corpse. His nightwear was identical to his daywear minus gloves and boots, a simple pair of black pants and a black tank top with crystal patterns. After a minute of so of being still, Yang realized he just wasn't going to get up again and quickly lost interest. "Yeah… any other friend?"

"If you can count negatives, there's Weiss."

"She's not a negative, she's just someone who doesn't like you," Yang replied easily. "Besides, I'm pretty sure she likes Ater even less, so that might've lessened her dislike for you."

"Soooo comforting…"

Yang huffed at her sister's pessimism. That was definitely something she didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"That girl…" Her eyes shot back to Ruby, who was looking at a girl in a corner, the same girl who had called Ater out on his name on the airship. Yang looked at Ruby with a question mark on her head. "She was there when I exploded."

Seeing the chance, Yang quickly grabbed Ruby's arm, gracefully ignoring her struggling and most of all her protests, and started dragging her over to the girl with a huge grin on her face. "Hello~" she sang out, hoping to get some reaction, but the only thing of the girl that moved where her eyes and her bow, that twitched. Oh well, Yang Xiao Long wouldn't back down from a challenge just because some girl was antisocial. Besides, at least she hadn't told her to fuck off as first two words, so that was a huge plus.

Yang was _sure_ it was going to go perfectly well.

 ** _As you can see Ater is still socially inept, ignorant of many things, and antisocial, but he's not a rock or a Grimm. Also, for the ones about to ask, Jaune is a bit below the others in combat skill, currently. The more Dust he'll absorb, the more powerful he'll get, but it's kinda hard to do that with no money, right? Or like this:_**

 ** _Ater: "Hey guys, I need some Dust."_**

 ** _Weiss: "I have loads of it, for what do you need it?"_**

 ** _Ater: "To eat it, thank you."_**

 ** _Weiss: -_-_**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


End file.
